


Family Don't End With Blood

by jelly123



Category: Supernatural, The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Family, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective Dean Winchester, Protective Sam Winchester, Winchester Sister
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-05
Updated: 2017-11-05
Packaged: 2019-01-29 17:15:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12635523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jelly123/pseuds/jelly123
Summary: The Winchesters find themselves in the middle of the zombie apocalypse. And with the end of the world, comes all the people that would have never dreamed to be what they are today. After a run in with Daryl and Rick, they are invited back to Alexandria. With the threat of Negan hanging over everyone’s head, will the Winchesters stay and do what they do best, or will the revelation of Negan have them doubting everything and making difficult decisions?





	Family Don't End With Blood

**Author's Note:**

> _I am happy to be back in the world of writing! It feels like I haven’t been doing much of anything lately and I’m excited that I’ve finally gotten somewhere with something! I’m hoping to keep myself to a schedule and to have as many parts as possible, but I’m not making any promises at this moment. Like I said though, I’m just happy to have gotten over some serious writers block!_
> 
>  
> 
> _Here it is! After months of mapping and trying to figure this story out, I’ve managed to finish the first part! Hopefully this has gotten the ball rolling and I can continue to run with it!_

If it was any other day, we’d all be sitting in the Impala, driving off to wherever the next case would take us. But it wasn’t any other day; there was no longer Baby to call home while we were on the road and there wasn’t another case dictating our direction. Just whatever we could carry from the trunk and the sun blazing down on us as we walked a road that looked the same as every other one.

I missed having the car, it made going from place to place shorter, making distance no problem. But her engine was loud and echoed through the quiet world around us, not to mention gas was getting harder and harder to come by, and though she was beautiful, she was a pig on it. I’m pretty sure Dean cried when he finally gave in and hid her in a thick bunch of trees, promising to come back when the world was right once more. I get it, that car was the last thing Dad had given him, she has so much history with our family, it’s not something you give up easily.

Finding something quiet, with plenty of leg room and actually worked was proving to be difficult. Everything we’ve come across has either been picked clean of anything useful or just plain refused to start. Which left us to continue walking, dirty and worn out.

The sound of a vehicle in the distance had us all scrambling to the ditch, making ourselves as small as possible. As it got closer, there was the distinguishable sound of something being dragged. Sure enough, as soon as the truck passed us, whatever it was dragging came loose and tumbled around the road. Whoever was driving didn’t seem to care that they lost it, they just kept going.

We waited until the truck was long gone before any of us moved. With the noise it was making, it was sure to have attracted the attention of any dead that were near by.

Though, it seemed luck was on our side today. After almost fifteen minutes of laying in the dirt, nothing else came by.

I was the first one to stand, slowly lifting myself off the ground, brushing the dirt off that hadn’t been caked on. Curiosity was getting the better of me, I wanted to know what that truck was dragging, and if it would be valuable.

Today was turning out to be a good day. It was an old beat up vending machine with food and soda still in it! I don’t remember eating any thing other than road kill since this whole thing began, some stale old chips were starting to sound a hell of a lot better than that. Sliding my bag off my shoulder, I reached in and grabbed the Cat’s Paw I had in there, promptly smashing the glass.

“Jesus Katie! Keep it down.” Dean hissed at me.

“Lighten up Dean. Look, they even have those little pie things you love.” I tossed it him, hoping that would shut him up, for a few minutes at least.

“That’s not Orange Crush, is it?” Sam asked, a smile playing on his lips.

“It sure is Sammy. Here catch.” I threw him one of the cans, enjoying the first real smile I’ve seen out of him in months.

Dean kept watch as Sam and I emptied the machine, stuffing the contents of it in our bags. We were standing back up when Dean let out a low whistle.

“We’ve got company.”

I turned to face the direction he was looking, hand sliding to the gun I had holstered in the back of my jeans. Both of my brothers took instinctive steps in front of me, putting themselves between me and the two men running towards us. Peeking my head around their shoulders, I watched as the two slowed when they got closer, and though they looked they had been running for miles, their bodies were taught, tension coursing through them as they took in the sight before them.

They shared a look, strangely similar to the one that Dean and Sam often share. They were assessing the situation, weighing their options. They had to be brothers, or at the very least; have known each other a long time.

“Who are you?” Dean asked, raising his gun, obviously not in the mood to deal with any bullshit.

“I’m Rick and this is Daryl.” The man with the shorter curly hair explained, pointing to himself and then to his counterpart.

“Who’re you?” The other, Daryl asked, his accent thicker than Rick’s.

“I’m Sam, and this is my brother, Dean.”

Rick and Daryl’s tension shifted when they noticed no one mentioned me. I was use to this, the no one mentioning me part; we’ve learned that when faced with strange men during the apocalypse it is most definitely not a good thing to point out the female of a group especially.

“What about you Miss?” Rick asked.

Sam turned to face me, sensing that I was moving forward. His jaw twitched in warning, he was just as unsure of the others as they were of us. I placed a hand on his shoulder, feeling the muscles relax slightly into my touch. He knew I had this handled.

“I’m Katherine, their sister.” I smiled sweetly, “You can understand why my brothers wanted me to keep my distance.”

It’s not that I couldn’t handle myself, I was very much capable of doing that. It was more of a show; two rather tall, rather strong looking men standing between danger and their sister, gave us an advantage over anyone or anything we came across. No one ever expected me to be just as skilled as either of them.

“No we get it.” Rick answered, “You three have a camp?”

“Nope, what about you?” I asked.

Again they shared a look, once more unsure of what to do. They obviously have somewhere they’ve been living for the last little while, their clothing was clean and they’ve both shaved recently.

“We do.” Rick finally spoke up, “We’re willing to let you come back with us, if you answer some questions first.”

It was our turn to share that look; the thought of having someplace that could potentially have a roof over our heads again was almost too good to be true. But Dean agreed anyway.

“Fire away.”

“How many walkers have you killed?”

“I’ve lost count.” I was the first to answer, turning to each brother, waiting for their own answers.

“Same here.” Sam shrugged.

“It’s a little hard to keep track when you’re too busy trying to survive.” Always with the snark Dean.

“Fair enough,” Rick continued, “How many people have you killed?”

Well there was a question that was bound to get us kicked out before we were even allowed in. I know none of us have kept track, the poor bastards that end being worn by angels and demons, they sometimes aren’t spared. Sam and Dean will both lie, it’s what they’ll think he wants to here, but looking at the two men, that’s not it. They want to know, sure, but they want to know the reasoning behind them. So I surprise everyone standing around me; I give them the truth.

“You want to know if you take us a back to wherever you’re staying that we’re not going to kill you all in your sleep? The only way any of us will be a threat to anyone, is if you’re a threat to us. I don’t know you Rick, but you look like a man that understands family and how important each member is to an individual. You too, Daryl. Family is all we’ve ever had, but we also know, family don’t end with blood.” Well, mostly the truth, zombies may be roaming free, but some people still can’t handle the whole truth.

“That doesn’t answer his question.” Daryl spoke up. “How many people you’ve killed?”

“Can’t speak for my brothers, but I’ve killed five.”

“Two.” Was Sam’s answer.

“Three.” Dean said; Dad, Adam and Lisa. I could name every last person that they felt responsible for killing. Hell, my own list consisted of Mom, Jo, Ellen, Bobby and Cas. That last one is still a knife to my heart.

“Why?” I already told them we were no threat if they weren’t, but he seems like he’s dead set on getting the answers to his questions.

“Ten people, and they’ve all lost their lives for the same reason; they died protecting us, to make sure we carried on. I don’t know why they all thought it should be us, if they were still alive, I’d ask them, we’re no one special.” It was a bold faced lie, and my brothers caught on to it right away.

“Our parents were the first, it was back when everything started, our home town had been overrun. We were trying to get out, to get somewhere safe, but Mom was falling behind. Her health over the last few years hadn’t been the greatest, she was in the middle of a bunch of tests before the world ended. We slowed down to let her catch her breath, but one of those things broke through the perimeter we set up, and sank its teeth into her before we even had a chance to do anything. It was my fault; I was the one sitting with her.” Sam lied.

“No it wasn’t Sammy, if I hadn’t made Dean and Dad stop, she’d still be with us. If we had kept going, Dad wouldn’t have had to watch the love of his life bleed to death. And we wouldn’t have watched him try and take out the herd that was barrelling down on us.” I sighed, playing my role of the sweet little sister, “He wanted to avenge Mom’s death, take out every last one of those dead things, make a difference, but it’s what got him killed in the end.”

“I was the one that shot him.” Dean admitted, “He had gotten himself bit, and he didn’t want to turn. I wasn’t going to let him suffer, and I couldn’t make Sam or Katie do it. Dad’s blood is on my hands.”

“It’s on all of our hands, De.” I placed a hand on his arm, knowing the real truth behind his words. “You’d think that our parents would be the worst of it, but it hasn’t ended. Every family member we sought out, ended up getting infected, and we’d have to watch all of them die.”

“I’m sorry you had to go through that.” Rick said, stepping forward. “It seems that whatever this new world is, it keeps taking those we love.”

Rick, at least, had seemed to buy our story. In reality, it wasn’t that far of a stretch; the details changed to fit into a more believable rather than Mom trying to stop a demon from feeding Sam and I his blood, or Dad trading his life for Dean’s with the same demon. But all their blood was on our hands, even if we weren’t the ones to put it there, we were still responsible for it.

“We’ve been lucky to have each other. Through it all, it’s always been us three.” My answer earned me a sad smile from Rick, our story had given him what he wanted to hear; a family just looking out for each other, something I’m sure he could relate to.

“I’m more than happy to have you come to Alexandria with us. It’s safe, we have houses and electricity. Food’s a little low right now, but it’s enough.” Rick said. “Speaking of which, you see which direction that truck went in?”

“Far as we saw, it kept going straight.” Dean said, “What’s in it?”

“Enough food and supplies to keep us going until the winter.” Rick said.

“We could help.” Sam offered, “Between the five of us, it wouldn’t take much to get it back.”

“Alright, let’s get going.” Rick agreed.

We set out down the road, Daryl leading the way; something about he’s an expert tracker, he could figure out which of the tire marks were fresh and which have been there for a while. I had to resist rolling my eyes at that, easily all three of us could point that out, tracking is tracking, regardless of the what. But we’re still newcomers, following the lead of Rick, no use starting anything.

Judging by the sun overhead, it’s been an hour since we first started down the road, and we were no closer to finding that truck then we were when we started. We had slowed, Daryl and Rick in front, talking and trying to keep their voices low. I was closest to them, having been placed between them and my brothers, and I could hear what they were talking about.

“It’s been awhile since we’ve seen anybody, and now four people in one day? Dunno Rick, but that seems too much uva coincidence for me.”

“I hear what you’re getting at, but they were willing to answer the questions, Jesus wasn’t. I don’t think they even know who he is.” I watched Daryl look over his shoulder at me, like he knew I was listening, but he didn’t say anything.

In the short time we’ve been with them, it was easy to see that Rick still had some of the old world innocence to him. He wasn’t completely trusting of strangers, but there was that glimmer of hope that still shined through; that people were still good. Daryl was almost the exact opposite, he was wary of strangers, not wanting to put his faith in the wrong people. In a way, he was like us, he knew the world was full of shit, even before the dead started walking. I might even hazard a guess that he could have been a hunter, but that may be a conversation for another day.

“You two brothers?” I asked, taking their attention away from each other.

“In a sense.” Rick said. “That thing you said earlier Katherine, about family not ending with blood? Probably the best description you could give for it.”

“Was just wondering, you guys act a lot like these two.” I said jerking my thumb back at my own brothers.

I could feel Sam and Dean watching, trying to figure out what I was getting at. Really, I was just making conversation, get them to trust us a little more. It’d be nice to have a place to stay, a roof over our heads for the first time in, well ever.

“What? Is that something you don’t hear very often?” I laughed at the expressions on their faces.

“Nah, just didn’t expect no stranger to pick up on it.” Daryl said.

“Not hard to pick up on Sweetness, the way you two interact, the guess would be brothers almost every time.” I smiled, “That, or lovers.”

“She’s something else, isn’t she?” Rick called back to Sam and Dean.

“Man, you have no idea.” Dean said shaking his head.

“She has no filter, and this is when she doesn’t know you that well.” Sam agreed.

“Love you too.” I turned around to stick my tongue out, only to walk into one of the solid frames in front of me, with a less then graceful “ugmph.” 

Without saying anything, Daryl clamped a hand over my mouth, and pointed in front of us. About a mile up the road, there was the truck. The guy who took it, blown a tire and was finishing up replacing it. We had to move fast.

I licked Daryl’s hand to get him to let go of me, a scowl setting in on his face as it dropped off my mouth. I looked to my brothers once, and took off in the direction of the truck. I didn’t look back once I started walking, hoping that one of them would get the hint and circle around using the trees as cover as I distracted the man.

“Hi.” I drawled out, once I was in range.

“Hello.” He looked up from the tire.

“Car troubles?” I asked with a small smile.

“You could say that.” He said.

“Want a hand?” I offered.

“Sure. I don’t know too much about cars, never really got the chance to learn.” He admitted, “It’s kinda sad that I don’t even know how to change a tire.”

“It’s not sad, lotsa people don’t know how. I just lucked out that Daddy was a mechanic, showed me a thing or two.” I bent down to inspect the tire, “You have the bolts seeded crooked, that wheel won’t last more than a mile before you’ll hafta replace it again.”

“Thanks.” He reversed the sideways bolts and I showed him how to put it right.

“No problem.”

“There isn’t too many people left that would help out a stranger stranded on the road.” He said.

“No, there ain’t. But I like to think that sometimes, you’ll run into them.” I smiled.

“Yeah. I’m Paul, but my friends called me Jesus.” He said, offering out his hand.

“Really?” I laughed, taking it.

“What? It isn’t obvious?”

“No I can see why.” He was actually a pretty decent guy; I feel bad for what’s about to happen. “I’m Katherine.”

The others had given me enough time to make sure the truck was ready to go, before they started stalking around the opposite side. As Jesus was tossing the tire iron back in the cargo container, Rick rushed him, wrapping his arms around to hold Jesus in place.

“Hold still and maybe we won’t hurt you.” Rick growled.

“Sure thing.” Jesus said before jerking his elbow into Rick’s gut.

From there, it was a flurry of motion, Jesus had easily overpowered Rick; butting his head back. With the hold on him loosened, he managed to free himself and land a kick, before grabbing my hand and running to the cab of the truck.

Daryl was on us before we made it, ducking Jesus’ fist, I was left forgotten as the two men fought. Jesus slammed Daryl into the side of the truck, and I used his backward momentum to my advantage; I easily rammed my body into his side, tackling him to the ground.

My brothers, who had hung back, now were towering over Jesus, guns cocked and pointing at his face. I could hear the click of two more guns behind me, indicating Daryl and Rick had also drawn theirs. As I stood, I drew mine as well.

“Is your name even Katherine?” He asked.

“Yes.”

“Why?” There was that word again, how is it everyone now is so caught up in the reasons?

“I’m the least conspicuous.” I shrugged, tying his hands with the rope Rick handed me. “You already had a meeting with these two, and if either of my brothers had ‘come to your rescue’ you would have bolted right away.”

“So you’re just going to leave me here?” He asked as we were starting to climb into the truck.

“It’s not that tight. Should take you just long enough for us to be long gone.” I waved out the passenger window.

“So long, you prick!” Daryl shouted out the window, his arm resting on it, with his middle finger up.

We were about five miles down the road when I had had enough of my brothers boring holes in the back of my head. I whipped around in the seat and glared at them.

“What?” I snapped.

“Dammit Katie! You always do this! Take off before anyone has a clue of what you’re thinking, leaving us behind to try and figure it out!” Dean chastised me.

“It worked, didn’t it? Just like it always does. Get off my case.” I turned back to the front, arms crossed and staring out the windshield.

“Katie.” It was Sam this time, but I didn’t bother turning back around, “We know it worked, but how many times do we have to tell you not to go in half-cocked?”

“Well sorry!” I threw my arms up, exasperated, “Next time something like this happens, I’ll let the big, strong men take care of it!”

Ever since Sam and I were old enough to hunt, they always treated me like the little girl, who couldn’t protect and look out for herself. Dad was the worst of it, he would actually try and get me to stay back, sit in the motel room and wait for the men to come back. I’ve proven myself, time and time again, but they still won’t have any of it.

“You know that’s not true, Kitty Kat.” I rolled my eyes at the nickname, Sam only used it now when he was trying to calm me down, “Dean and I know, you can handle yourself. We’ve just lost so much; you think we want to lose you too?”

He kept his wording vague, Sam could only say so much with the other men present. I know what he was talking about. Even though I know we were twins, it still amazed me how he always seemed to know what I was thinking. They don’t want to lose me again. All three of us, at some point have died, and sure it sucked when it was either of them, but apparently it destroyed them to lose me. The looks on their faces when I walked through Bobby’s door, had told me all I needed to know.

“Sorry Sammy.” I sighed, embarrassed that I had acted like a child. “Sorry guys, not really the greatest first impression, huh?”

To mine and my brothers’ surprise, Rick laughed. Daryl, well he just looked amused, a small chuckle escaping from his lips as he turned to look out the window.

“Sorry, it’s not that funny.” Rick said, calming down, “Just the first time we met, Daryl ended up throwing a dozen squirrels at me.”

“Oh.” I said, as my own laughter filled the cab.


End file.
